[Buddha-l] NYTimes.com: Let Us Pray for Wealth

[Dan Lusthaus]

Chris, et al.

> Sixty years ago, Iraq also had a "flourishing Jewish population, a third
of
> Bagdhad"
> <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-232261/Iraq#63985.hook>:
> "Jews formerly constituted a small but significant minority and were
largely
> concentrated in or around Baghdad, but, with the rise of Zionism,
anti-Jewish
> feelings became widespread. This tension eventually led to the massive
Farhud
> pogrom of June 1941. With the establishment of Israel in 1948, most Jews
> emigrated there or elsewhere."

As a footnote, this was not just any old flourishing Jewish population in
the Muslim world. This community had roots stretching back to the Babylonian
Captivity (some stayed behind after the rest were allowed to return to Judea
and Galilee). It is also the place where the Babylonian Talmud -- still the
authoritative document for Rabbinic Judaism -- was composed and redacted
over several centuries (ca. 1st-7th c). The community's fortunes fluctuated
over the remaining centuries after the advent of Islam, at times
flourishing, at other times severely put upon.

Baghdadi Jews also played important roles in South and SE Asia in recent
centuries. E.g., see the recent _Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British
Burma_ by Ruth Cernea (Lexington Books, 2007).
Amazon.com link for details:
http://tinyurl.com/2kmv4a

Buddhists from C. Asia were also brought to Baghdad by the Muslims around
the 9th-10th c, since their skills as translators were coveted. When, after
some years, the political climate changed, they were forced to flee eastward
back into the Indian orbit.

Dan Lusthaus